After finishing a greatest hits tour that came to Sands Bethlehem Event Center last February, Mississippi alt-rockers 3 Doors Down celebrated in August with an acoustic concert in the band’s adopted hometown of Nashville.

3 Doors Down singer Brad Arnold

That led to the band’s current Songs From The Basement tour, which returns to Sands Bethlehem Event Center on Feb. 12. It’s playing stripped-down versions of its biggest hits such as “Kryptonite,” “Here Without You,” “When I’m Gone” and “It’s Not My Time,” as well as lesser-known songs that, in some cases, were never played live.

In a recent telephone call from Nevada, where the band kicked off the tour, 3 Doors Down guitarist Chris Henderson talked about the tour, how it came together and the status of 3 Doors Down these days.

He’s a transcript of the call:

LEHIGH VALLEY MUSIC: Thank you for taking time today to do this with me.

CHRIS HENDERSON: “Hey, no problem. I’m in the middle of a division playoff game. So if my answers are short, that’s why.”

[Laughs] “I won’t keep you that long. You guys played our Sands Casino less than a year ago.

“Right.”

So I’m just going to sort of get a little bit of an up. You guys started the tour last night?

“Started the tour last night in Reno, yeah.”

Tell me about it. How did it go?

“It went really well. The acoustic show is coming off really cool. The crowd really enjoyed it, we enjoyed it. There was a lot of give and take. It was really a refreshing way to play a rock show. And everyone really seemed to dig it.”

The crowd was receptive?

“Oh yeah. Yeah, it was amazing.”

So give me a little bit of an explanation about what it’s like: Obviously you do your hits. But other songs as well?

3 Doors Down acoustic show

“Yeah, we’re playing some stuff. We’re digging deep into the other records and playing some things that people have never heard us play before. Actually several songs like that. So it’s a bit of a challenge for us because, of course we can rehearse and play songs, but sometimes it takes a couple of weeks of rehearsal to get things warmed up, and we didn’t have that kind of time.

“So we’re playing some of these older songs just in the way that they were written, like not even rehearsed up. We’re kind of, like, just saying, ‘Hey, let’s try this one tonight.’ And that’s kind of what we’re doing, and it’s pretty cool.”

Really? So you guys didn’t go through, like, months of agonizing rehearsals to get these songs put together in an acoustic form?

“No, ‘cause all of our songs were written on the acoustic guitar. So we just remember what it was like to write them, and just sat around in the studio with an acoustic guitar and just started banging them out. Didn’t rehearse any, like, moves or any crap like that. We just sat around and started playing. And that’s kind of the vibe that this show is – it’s like Songs From The Basement, almost like we’re just kind of hanging around.”

You know, some of the songs, some of my favorite songs by you guys, have that real tension to them, and dynamics. How does that translate when you present them acoustic?

“Well, I think the dynamic of a song, it changed obviously. But I think the tension and the drama is still there because a good song is a good song, you know what I mean? The parts are all still there, and what the people want, they’re going to feel. It’s just not going to be bells and whistles and lights and pyro. It’s going to be the song itself.”

Cool. And how did you come up with the idea/ How did you decide to do an acoustic tour?

“Well, we played a show in Nashville, an acoustic show in Nashville, and it went so well we decided to take it on the road. That’s kind of what happened – we had so much fun that night, and we were, like, ‘You know what? Let’s go do this nationally.’ So here we are.”

Do you have to present it to your management or anything? Was there any difficulty convincing them?

“No. You just test waters. You talk to your agents and your management and you just tell them to put the feelers out. And they’ll contact promoters who will know kind of what the fan base wants to see, and that’s how you kind of get it going.

You guys have not put out an album of new material since 2011, I think. Are you working on new stuff?

“Yes we are.”

What can you tell me about it?

“Um, not really much at the moment. We’re just really working on it at the moment. And for us it’s a process, so we’re really just starting the process.”

OK. I apologize for this, but I have to ask about Todd Harrell. [Harrell, the band’s bassist, in July 2012 was charged with driving under the influence after a car crash, then was charged again in April 2013 in a second crash that killed the driver of a truck he hit. He also was charged with vehicular manslaughter and drug possession after police found Xanax, oxycodone and oxymorphone pills on him.] Do you know whether he will ever be back to the band of is that still up in the air?

“Man, all I can say about that is he’s got a lot of work he’s got to go do, you know? I mean, that’s all I can say.”

So are you aware at how the situation is playing out or anything beyond what we’ve been hearing?

“No, I mean I know what you know, basically. I don’t have an insider or anything like that. I know the same things that they post on the Internet – same stuff that I know.”

Yeah, and [his replacement] Justin [Biltonen] is working out well on bass?

“Yeah, he’s working out great, man. He stepped right up and learned all the material in record time, and his first shows were in Russia.”

Yeah [Laughs]

“Got on an airplane and went to Moscow, and you know, stepped up. Justin’s a pro, so it’s good to have him on board.”

I have to note that you guys went so many years with the stable lineup, then [original guitarist] Matt Roberts leaves, now this happens. So you’ve had basically a year and a half of some changes. Has it changed the band at all?

“Yeah, I think it has, but it’s changed us for the better. I think there’s more of a vibe between the players now that might not have been there before. Or let’s just say a different vibe, all right? Not going to say more of a vibe, it’s just a different vibe through the players. And it’s refreshing, you know what I mean. For doing something so long with so many people, you kind of, at some point, start getting into kind of a complacency, if that’s a term I can use.”

Sure.

“Kind of get complacent, you know everything’s going to work out. You throw some new people in there, you know, they bring a different flavor to the table. It mixes it up – really nice and refreshing. Really, I think the band’s better than it’s every been.”

Yeah. When you guys played our Sands casino last year – you came with Daughtry – and I really enjoyed the show a lot. I’m looking forward to you coming back. I can’t let you go without asking about the Better Life Foundation concert. It went well again this year?

“Yeah, it went well – our 10th annual, with Black Stone Cherry. Had a great time – I wish they could have hung out longer, but they only had one day left of deer season so they had to get home.”

[Laughs]

“But that’s what they do. But it was a great show. We raised a lot of money and I had a lot of fun.”

JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.